Fleo Plector – Guild Hall
Fresh adrenaline rushed through Fleo, invigorating her enough to make her jump in excitement.
“Great! Having you both along would be just great! A group of four, then: Lucas plus Team Powder Keg.” She was already halfway out the door before a halting revelation passed through her mind. Sporting a look of inquisition, Fleo turned back to the rest of her group, and asked,
“Uh...do we tell Jamie? And how do we get to this desert? My maximum scooting distance is about twenty miles in a single sitting. I, um, tested.”Though stymied for the moment, Fleo was filled with pride by the thought of going on her first job. Out of her three allies, one she knew precious little about, one had obliterated a perfectly normal civilian establishment only hours prior, and one -though the one she knew most about- constantly fluctuated in her sporadic opinion as most-liked and least-liked. Still, she was happy to call them teammates. While never quite in sync with others, as her time in previous guilds attested, her track record was smoothest by far when there were others around to pick up her slack.
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“I was going to fix it before two marauding ice wizards inserted themselves,” Nero replied irritably, his full focus on the beginning of his young friend's transformation.
Ayame is her name, and Aya for short he mused, wondering how he had so carelessly forgotten to ask it. Unfortunately, the dark mage was unable to keep his full attention on his handiwork for long, for the dynamic entry of two more guild members forced him to look away. One of them, a black-haired lady with a toddler in tail, looked enough like a normal mom to stand out like a sore thumb against the eccentric personas currently stationed in Phoenix Wing—a count from which good-natured Nero did not exclude himself. The other new arrival, however, Nero found himself instantly disliking. It must have been the strange man's inhuman height, his animal aspect, his -was that rubbish to be provocative?- clothes, or the grating voice in which he announced himself, or perhaps a combination of them all. Determined to not give 'Prince' any of the attention he so obviously craved, Nero returned his gaze to Ayame, and found the transformation complete.
At the sight of Ayame's new form, Nero suddenly froze, his eyes shocked into full-openness, all people instantly forgotten. Gasping sharply, he clutched at his heart with a fingers curled like claws, trying to restore his breath.
“What have I created!?” he whispered in horror,
“I have made something so incredibly precious that no human can behold it and live!” At this point, it was obvious that no true afflicted assaulted his heart, unless cuteness could, in fact, be fatal. He pushed himself from the couch and brought himself down to eye level with the minute hedgehog, taking in her developing spines, her snuffling nose, and stubby legs. From memory, he recited,
“Prickly! Nervous! Nocturnal! Solitary! Self-anointing! And capable of lasting bonds!” He reached out a gloved hang and gingerly scooped the tiny hedgehog up, depositing her on a burgundy couch cushion. Nero's countenance held the vestige of joy, although the light in his eyes was once more hidden behind upturned lids.
“This gives me a great idea for what to give you! Maybe a stiff-fibered beret, or a fluffy-fluff scarf like your underbelly!” He straightened up, reclining on the couch once more. Head tilted back, he seemed to regard the ceiling, or something beyond, if he was indeed looking at all. When he spoke next, his warm tone buzzed with contentment, and his words waxed poetic.
“Atavism – to return to a former state. No matter the intricacies that men may invent to classify themselves and the world, masking the primal laws of need and desire, the essence of the wild survives in all hearts. I bear witness to the shape of your soul, wanderer Aya, and it is good.”This final, smooth intonation marked the end of Ayame's brief stint as a hedgehog. That same obscuring fuzziness rose again, bidden by the Genie's words, and when the fragment of reality sitting beside Nero regained its sharp edges, it had regained the form of a little girl, exactly as she had been before. Nero jumped slightly, as if momentarily in a daze.
“Haha, sorry,” he said, removing his broken glasses and rubbing his eyes.
“I'll bet I said something silly just now, but I've gone and forgotten it. Maybe karma's catching up at last. Senility at nineteen? Come on! My hair's already almost white, isn't that enough?” He smiled, looking neither at Trinity nor Ayame, and therefore gifting it to both.
“Archer girl, I do not begrudge you your suspicion. You're hardly the first to look upon these stunning features and wince, heeheehee! I'm always super-enthused to make people into animals, though! They're sooo much easier to understand. You oughta try it. Normally you'd already be some critter, but I get the feelin' Jamie won't be too happy with indiscriminate cursing. Anyway...Aya! What is your wish?”
